Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Friday, February 17, I flew on a small commuter from Auckland to Whakatane, Bay of Plenty Region, North Island, New Zealand – a beautiful day for flying and I slept the whole way.  Abner Salanguit had arrived back in town just yesterday after being with his wife Lani in the Philippines where her mother is in failing health.  He brought me to their house where the church meets.  There are 25 members now because some have moved away and some fallen away.  The church is composed of Filipinos, though they welcome anyone and everyone.  They are very evangelistic minded.

13 were present tonight and, in addition, many people joined our studies via Zoom (at least 9) and also Face Book (at least 12), and they participated in the open forum.

Our service started about 6:15 P.M. and finished about 9:30.  I preached “From Wretched Man to More Than Conqueror” and “Trust God Till the Danger Passes.”  In the open forum there was a good discussion of repentance – its meaning, its necessity, and its evidence.  This included some discussion of how much a person must understand in order to truly obey the gospel – he must know he is lost in sin, Christ died as the perfect sacrifice and arose, the steps by which we receive pardon, and he will be added to the undenominational body of Christ which is distinct from false religions.

There were questions about the dangers of false doctrines and what should a Christian do if the church he attends is involved in false doctrine.  I pointed out the New Testament shows that this issue was lovingly, firmly, and directly addressed in the early days of the church.  Revelation 2-3 shows that Christ extends patience while such matters are addressed, but he removes the lampstand of his presence if sin and error are not corrected.  The background for these questions is that Abner and others here and online escaped from the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), the International Christian Church (ICC), and related groups, all of which are offshoots of the old Crossroads or Boston Movement among some institutional churches.  These brethren are now focused on establishing truly sound churches with full respect for Bible authority including local autonomy under Christ rather than under these centralized organizations constructed by men.

A Filipino brother here nicknamed Third who is married with young children asks for our prayers.  He recently discovered he has a brain tumor and will soon receive a treatment plan, possibly surgery.  The tumor is not benign.

The beautiful weather continued to bless us Saturday. I prepared lessons this morning and tried to catch up on some of the many unanswered emails.  After lunch I conducted a study of Psalms 1-2 with the couple facing the challenge of the brain tumor.  I urged them to follow through by reading the Psalms together in the days ahead as they deal with this traumatic experience in order to make it a steppingstone toward building a stronger faith.

Many Filipinos here work on dairy farms (from about 4:00 A.M. to 4:00-6:00 P.M.) and one of them opened his home on the farm for our study tonight.  A large room easily accommodated the 18 adults (several more children) who were joined by at least 12 on Face Book and 9 on Zoom including participants in New Zealand, the Philippines, and Africa – for a total of 39.

Our first lesson was entitled “When Peter Confessed Christ,” which deals with the deity of Jesus Christ, his promise to build his church, his proclamation that he would conquer death, and his promise that the new kingdom of God would be opened by the preaching of the Apostles.  I clarified that Peter was not elevated as a pope by Christ.  During a short Q & A, there was a question about whether a local church is scriptural if it has no elders and deacons.  The answer is yes, it is scripturally unorganized until there are qualified men who can be appointed.

The follow-up sermon was on “The New Testament Church,” showing it is perpetuated by the seed principle (Lk. 8:11).  It can be identified by the pattern of the Apostles’ teaching about its worship, mission, organization, and terms of pardon or admission.  This was a golden opportunity to plant the seed in the hearts of visitors who were very attentive and who said the lesson was clear.

When I was here in December of 2017, I met the very thankful parents of a newborn girl that experienced great danger and distress in the birth process a couple of months before I arrived.  They were thankful the baby survived the birth process, but the doctors predicted she would have long term disabilities if she survived very long at all.  I had my picture taken with this family tonight.  That 5 year old daughter is healthy, bright, friendly, outgoing, and outstanding!  She asked to sit with me during supper and she carried on a conversation almost like an adult (reminding me of Esther back home at the Hebron Lane church)!  What a joy God brings to the world through little children!

We had a beautiful Lord’s Day in Whakatane!  There were 19 who assembled with us in Abner’s house including one family who drove 2 ½ hours to worship, plus we were joined by 5 on Zoom and 8 via Face Book (with multiple people participating in some of those places).

“Take Job as an Example” (Ja. 5:10-11) was our first study and we considered many ways he serves as a model starting with righteousness.  Our next lesson was “Work While It Is Day” (Jn. 9:4), emphasizing that we must be busy serving the Lord because our souls are precious and our time is short.

The open forum continued for about an hour covering all sorts of questions including, “Is baptism a work?”  It is not a work of human tradition or human merit but is an act of obedient faith by which God does the work of forgiving our sins (Col. 2:12).  Someone asked whether it is right to depend on Zoom in lieu of attending worship.  No, Zoom is a legitimate means of study and communication when we cannot assemble, but to rely on Zoom while willfully forsaking the assembly is sinful.

Brethren coming from the ICOC and ICC background have experienced the psychological pressure tactics which have characterized these movements.  Human rules are enforced by shaming procedures and by public withdrawal circulars.  We had a discussion of when is a Christian considered apostate and subject to withdrawal by the local church.  Christians are taught to avoid sin but to confess and correct any sins which they commit (1 Jn. 1:5-2:2).  Christians who willfully and stubbornly continue in sin like the brother in 1 Corinthians 5 are apostate from God and subject to local church discipline.  But human rules devised by men are not the standard of faithfulness or apostasy.

Diotrephes in 3 John ruled the church and anyone who failed to submit to his dictatorship was subject to withdrawal, but in God’s eyes the church which tolerates such action is in sin rather than the person who is abused and driven away.

The brethren emerging from these false systems are expressing joy and thanksgiving for the way we base what we teach and practice directly on Scripture rather than on human rules passed down from centralized human authorities.  My heart goes out to them as I see repeated cases where they bear deep emotional scars from these man-made systems of religion.

We continued to enjoy beautiful weather on Monday with temperatures running middle 60’s-70’s. It was a perfect day to travel from Whakatane to Hamilton.  For 2 ½ hours we passed through the countryside following valleys surrounded by high hills and dotted with dairy farms – New Zealand milk and butter are famous worldwide.

There is no faithful congregation in Hamilton, but nine souls gathered to study the Bible in a friendly hospitable home – primarily contacts who had been known in Whakatane but had moved to Hamilton.  The house where we met had a large, covered patio where we gathered in the refreshing breeze to study “Evidence God Exists” and “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors.”  I asked for questions, but everyone said the lessons were clear.  If there will be souls converted by the gospel of Christ here, brethren from Whakatane and from Auckland could help with the preaching to help the new congregation get on its feet.

Ronnie and Nine Salunga met us and took me back to Auckland to prepare for my flight to Australia.

It is gratifying to see how Filipinos network among themselves in foreign lands to spread the gospel in spite of the lack of interest by people in the host country.  They invite Kiwis here, but it is rare to find one who is interested in studying the Bible.  They are largely secularized much like Australia and the United Kingdom with which they are closely aligned by their historical background.

It is a privilege to follow in the shadow and footsteps of godly Filipinos who are not ashamed to share the gospel wherever life’s journeys take them, and to seek to encourage, edify, and strengthen them in their determination to serve the Lord!  I thank God that many of you who read these reports help to make this work possible by your constant fervent prayers and even by financial support.

Even though I walked at 11:00 P.M. last night after arriving here in Auckland, I am not seeing the moon, possibly because the waxing crescent phase does not offer much to see at this time.  But I know it is there, greeting you there and me here – another evidence of God’s presence, power, and love in the universe!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.hebronlanechurchofchrist.com
https://biblework.congregateclients.com
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com